Tobacco-stripping machine.



PATENTED JULY 5, 1904.

J. G. HAVENS.

TOBACCO STRIPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 30. 1904. N0 MODEL. 5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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PATEN-TED JULY 5, 1904.

J. G. HAVENS..

TOBACCO STRIPPING MACHINE.

PPLICATION FILED MAR. 30. 1804.

5 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

NO MODEL.

.MAN

WITNESSES: y

'ATTORNEY PATENTBD JULY 5, 1904.

J. G. HAVENS.

TOBACCO STRIPPING MACHINE.

5 SHEETS-SHEET APPLICATION gg ED MAR. 30, 19.04.

N0 MODEL.

No. 764,053. PATBNTED JULY`5, 1904.

- J. G. HAVENS. TOBACCO STRIPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1904. N0 MODEL. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES:

' @moa EY PATENTBD JULY 5, i904.

J. G. HAVENS. TOBACCO STRIPPING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED um ao 1904 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

H0 MODEL.

' lNyENToR y mM/3M 'ATTORNEY Patented July 5, 1904.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Ormea.

JOSEPH GOODENOUGH HAV-ENS, OF ASBURY PARK, NEV JERSEY.

TOBAGCO-STRIPPING lvlAoHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 764,053, dated July 5, 1904.

Application filed March 30, 1904. Serial No.` 200,772. (No model.)

To (L/,Z wrmt [L '1w/Ly concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GOODENOUGH HAvENs, of Asbury Park, Monmouth county, New Jersey, have invented a new and useful ImprovementinTobacco-StrippingMachines, of' which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a machine for stripping the leaf portion of a tobacco-leaf from the stein; and it consists in certain improvements upon the tobacco-stripping machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 713,886, granted to James A. Hutcheson, November 18, 1902, and also in my pending application, Serial No. 164,656, filed July 8, 1903.

The said improvements consist in the novel construction and arrangement of the yielding gate and also of the intermittently-moving receiving-table for the strippings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 jointly constitute a vertical longitudinal section of the entire machine on the line rv a' of Figs. 3 and 4, the feed end being shown in Fig. 1 and the delivery end in Fig. 2. Figs. 3 and 4 jointly constitute a top View of the whole machine, (certain parts of the gearing being omitted for clearness,) Fig. 3 correspending to Fig. 1 in showing the feed end and Fig. 4 to Fig. 2, showing the delivery end. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the gate, and Fig. 6 illustrates the gearing diagrammatically.

Similar characters of reference indicate like parts.

The frame of the machine consists of side plates 1, connected by girdcrs 2 and supported on standards 3. The feed-table 4 is carried on brackets 5.

The devices for clamping and drawing in the leaves consist'of the channel-bars 6 7, filled with rubber and carried by cam-plates 8, in which are rollers 10. There are four sprocket-chains, each made in two parts, the ends of said parts being connected to the pins which carry the rollers 10 in cam-plates 8, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this way the leaf-clamping' devices are supported by the sprocket-chains. The four sprocket-chains are arranged two on each side of the machine. Two of these chains are shown in Fig. 1 at 14 and 15. Said chains may support a second pair of clamping and drawingin bars, as shown at 16 17, Fig. 2. The chains 14 15 pass over four sprocket-wheels, two carried on shaft 18 and two on shaft 19. One of the sprocket-wheels on shaft 18 and the corresponding lower one on shaft 19 are respec.- tively shown at 20 21, Fig. 1.

At the rear end of the machine, Fig. 2, each sprocket-chain 14 15 passes over two smaller sprocket-wheels 22 23. The wheels 22 23 are in sliding bearings 9, disposed in slots 24, in which they can be moved -to adjust the tension of said chains by the screws 25.

26, Fig. 5, is the feed-gate, which swings freely on the fixed transverse rod 27, eX- tending between the brackets 33. Said gate consists of two end arms 28, which are slotted to receive the extremities of the gate-bar 29, sovthat said bar may freely rise and fall in its slots. In the brackets 33 are bolted the fixed slides 34, and in said slides are adjustable bearings for the shaft of the upper stripping-roll 35. ings and above the roll-shaft is a bar 36, upon which bear the ends 0f a pair of leaf-springs 37, which are secured at their middle portionsto the fixed transverse bar 38. The lower stripping-roll 39 is also supported in sliding bearings in the slides 30, and extending between said bearings below the roll-shaft is a bar 31, upon which bear the ends of a pair of leaf-springs 32, which at their middle portions arc secured to the fixed transverse bar 41. The effect of the leaf-springs 37 and 32 is normally to force the stripping-rolls .into contact. The slides 30 are connected to brackets 42, between which is journaled the three-shelved table 43. Said table is rotated by gearing 44 from a pinion 45 on the shaft 19. Pivoted at their ends to arms on the front of brackets 42 is a pair of parallel bent rods 12. Pivoted at their ends to lugs on the under side of bar 41 is another pair of bent rods 11. The rods 11 are connected vto the rods 12 by links 13. Between the rods 12 is secured a sheet-metal tray 48. The rods and links form a folding frame, the normal position of which is extended, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The tray 48 is then inclined so that any material thereon will Extending between said bear- IOO slide freely ofi'. I/Then, however, the bars 7 and cam-plates 8 of the lower sprocket-chains 15 run under the said rods, the frame is lifted, as shown in full lines, Fig. 1. The links 13 then assume a nearly-vertical position and the surface of the tray 48 becomes horizontal. Ihe mode of operation of this part of the device is as follows: rlhe tobaccoleaves are placed butts foremoston the tablev 4 and are fed forward by hand. The upper bar 6 meets them, carries them along, and an instant later the leaves become clamped between the elastic faces of the bars 6 and 7. The upper bar moving rearward strikes the swinging' gate 26, lifts it, and passes under it. The gate then swings back to its original position, and the two bars holding the leaves between them continue onward, drawing in the leaves under the sliding' gate-bar 29, which freely rises, and so adapts itself to the varying thicknesses of the leaves. The cam-plates 8 finally pass between the shafts of the stripping-rolls 35 and 39, and so force these stripping-rolls asunder against the action of the leaf-springs 37 and 32. After the cam-plates 8 have passed from between the roll-shafts the strippi-ng-rolls come together again and act upon the leaves. The construction ofthe rolls maybe the same asis set forthin UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 694,962, granted to me March 11, 1902,and their action on the leaves is fully set out in said patent and referred to in the Hutcheson patent aforesaid, so that it need not be repeated here. The effect is to cutthe leaf portion ofthe tobacco from the stem portion,so that while the stems remain clamped between the bars 6 and 7 the leaf portions are thrown forwardly of the machine upon the threeshelved revolving table 43, which is in front of and below the stripping-rolls. The stripped portions of the leaves therefore fall from the shelves of said table upon the tray 48, which, in the manner described, is intermittently swung up and down, thus insuring the delivery of the leaves therefrom. The tray 48 also prevents the strip pings from falling upon and being carried rearward by the moving parts beneath it. The means for taking the stems from the clamping-bars and delivering them to the brushing devices and finally to delivery-rolls is as follows: On the inner side of each side plate near the rear of the machine are brackets, two of which are shown at 49 and 50, Fig. 2. In these brackets are slides 51 to receive the sliding bearings of shafts 53 54, which carry smooth rolls 55. Said rolls are separated by the passage of the camplates, which support bars 6 and 7, in the same manner as are the stripping-rolls and are similarly restored to original position by the leaf-springs 37 32, which also act on bars 56 57, extending between said bearings.

58 and 59 are cylindrical brushes carried on shafts 6() 61, also liournalcd in the side plates. The bearings of the upper shaft 60 slide vertically in recesses in the side plates and are held down by helical springs, one of which is shown at 62, which springs may be adjusted by screws 63. The direction of rotation of the brushes 58 59 is the same as that of the rolls 55. In rear of the brushes are the delivery-rolls 64 65, the upper-roll shaft being disposed in sliding' bearings in the side plates and being provided with helical springs and adjusting-screws 66. The operation of this part of the device is as follows: The camplates carrying the bars 6 and 7, which grasp the stripped stem, pass between the shafts of the rolls 55, thus separating those rolls against the action of the leaf-springs. After the camplates have passed through the rolls are brought together by the action of the springs and are caused to grasp the stems, so that when the bars 6 and 7 separate by following their respective sprocket-chains the stems remain lirmly grasped between the rolls 55, which positively feed them onward to and between the rotary brushes. Before the stems reach the brushes they pass over a table 67, which is pivoted on a transverse rod and held normally in horizontal position by a helical spring 68. Said table prevents any escape of material in passing from rolls 55 to the brushes, and being spring-supported it readily yields downwardly when the bars 7 pass over it. rI`he brushes travel at a higher rate of speed by reason of their gearing than do the rolls 55 or the delivery-rolls 64 65. rI`he stems being introduced between the rotary brushes 58 59 by the rolls 55 are grasped by the rolls 64 and 65. The speed of said rolls is such that the stems are carried between the brushes at a comparatively slow rate, so that the brushes have ample time to efficiently act upon them. The rolls 64 and 65 then finally eject the stripped stems at the rear of the machine. The action of the brushes is to remove any remaining portions of the leaf which has escaped the action of the stripping-rolls, and hence continue to adhere to the stem.

The gearing is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 6. Apinion E on the main drivingshaft A drives pinion B, which actuates gear C on shaft 19, and gear C drives gear D on shaft 18. Motion is thus given to the sprocketchains 14 15. Above the driving-shaft'A are four shafts F Gr H I, journaled in the side plates. On the end of the driving-shaft opposite to that which carries pinion E is a gear K. Shafts FI are geared together and driven directly from gear K. Shaft F by the sprocketchain L rotates the upper stripping-roll 35. Shaft I by the sprocket-chain M rotates the lower stripping-roll 39. Shaft F is geared to shaft Gr, and shaft G by sprocket-chain O rotates the upper roll 55. Shaft I is geared to shaft H, and shaft H by sprocket-chain Q rotates the lower roll 55. Shaft I also by sprocket-chain R drives the shaft 81, which by the train 82 83 84 rotates the delivery-rolls IOS 64 65. The brush-roll shafts are geared together and are driven by pinion 78 on shaft 81.

I claimm 1. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a feedtable and a gate freely movable in its own plane and at an angle to the plane of the table.

2. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a feedtable, a stripping device, means for conveying the leaf from said feed-table to said stripping device, and interposed between said table and said stripping device a gate freely movable in its own plane and at an angle to the plane of the table.

3. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a feedtable, a swinging gate supported from above and freely movable toward and from its axis of support.

4. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a gate, a rod supported in endk bearings, two parallel slotted arms depending from said rod and a gate-bar received at its ends in said slots and freely movable therein.

5. In a tobacco-stripping machine in cornbination with stripping-rolls, a receiving-table disposed below said rolls, a swinging support for said table and means for moving said support to intermittently carry said table from an inclined to a horizontal position.

6. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a stripping device, means for conveying the leaf to said stripping device, a swinging receivingtable for the stripped leaf and means controlled by said conveying device for moving said table from an inclined to a horizontal position.

7 In a tobacco-stripping machine, a stripping device, means for conveying the leaf to said stripping device, a pair of rods pivoted at their forward ends, a tray carried by said rods below said stripping device, a pair of rods pivoted at their rear ends, links connect' ing the free ends of said pairs of rods and means controlled by said conveying device for swinging said pairs of rods on their iiXed end pivots and thereby moving' said tray from inclined to horizontal position.

8. In a tobacco-stripping machine, a stripping device, a rotary support having a plurality of radiating shelves, means for-rotating said support to bring said shelves successively into position to receive the stripped leaf, a swinging table below said shelves and means for intermittently moving said table from an inclined to a horizontal position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH GOODENOUGH HAYENS.

Vitnesses:

WM. H. SIEGMAN, I. A. VAN VVART. 

